Chapter 1023: Chapter 1022
Martin’s ears were ringing, and a trickle of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"You’re dead to me—you hear that? From now on, you’re no longer our son. Get out—just get out!"
Ansel was livid, his voice reaching a fever pitch, "Get out!"
Florence closed her eyes, her heart breaking, tears streaming down her face.
Diana watched the scene unfold in disbelief. Had her brother lost his mind? Was he really cutting ties with his family for Serena?
What was he thinking?
Martin bowed deeply toward Ansel, his forehead touching the ground three times in a traditional sign of respect, but Ansel wasn’t having it. He lashed out, kicking Martin’s shoulder and bellowed, "I said get
out!"
"Dad, don’t get yourself worked up," Diana, noticing her father’s rage seemed like a towering mountain about to crumble, quickly stepped forward to support him and glanced at her brother. "Martin, are you really willing to cut off Mom and Dad for Serena? Did they mean nothing raising you all these years?"
Martin slowly got to his feet, bowed to the three of them, and turned to leave the hospital room.
"Martin?"
Diana hadn’t expected him to be so resolute. Ansel collapsed, and Diana, panic-stricken, called out,
"Dad, Dad? What are you two standing there for? Come over and help, quickly!"
Two bodyguards rushed forward to assist Ansel.
Diana hit the call button for the nurse and then dashed out after Martin.
At that moment, Martin was standing in front of the elevator. The doors dinged open, and he was about to step in when...
"Martin."
Diana caught up with him, her fury unchecked, and she slapped him hard across the face.
"Are you even human?" She pummeled his chest with her fists, "Mom’s in the ICU fighting for her life,and Dad’s been struck down by your selfishness! Even if you want to marry Serena, even if you want to
cut ties with the family, did it have to be now? Are you trying to kill them?"
Martin let her vent her rage until she was too exhausted to continue. Only then did he gently wipe the tears from his sister’s face with his sleeve.
"Don’t pretend to care!" Diana pushed his hand away, tears flowing freely, "If you have any conscience left, cancel the engagement party on Friday. Out of respect for the years mom and dad raised you, I’m not asking for a lifetime of gratitude, just don’t be the last blow that kills them!"
With that, Diana turned and walked away, her heart shattered.
Martin watched his sister’s retreating figure, realizing he was in too deep to turn back now.
This process could take a month at least, or years at its worst.
During this time, he would have to bear the burden in silence.
For now, he could only apologize to his family.
The next day in the afternoon, Rosemary received a call from Jack.
Jack had been piecing together the puzzle of Rosemary’s aunt and uncle’s business troubles. It seemed their subsidiary companies had run into a mysterious sabotage, likely the work of an enigmatic figure known as Stinger. The only details Jack had unearthed about Stinger were frustratingly vague: a man with a youthful voice, on the lean side, and taller than average. His facial features remained a complete mystery.
"The auctioneer mentioned that Stinger has shown up a few times, bidding on some jewelry. I’ll send you photos of the pieces," Jack said without ending the call, swiftly sharing a dozen images with Rosemary via WhatsApp.
As Rosemary flicked through the photos, a knot formed in her stomach. Each piece was unmistakably linked to the Collins family, exuding opulence and history.
If her eyes weren’t deceiving her, these were the very jewels that Serena, when she was still the golden girl of the Collins family, had received as gifts from her family.
Rosemary spoke in a measured tone, "Back when Erik and Martha were still with us, they had a side business selling off Serena’s jewelry, designer clothes, and luxury bags in exchange for cash. Looking
at this, it’s almost certain that Stinger is one of Erik’s guys."
Jack continued, "The auction house doesn’t have any surveillance since the clientele prefer their privacy, and auctioneer didn’t want to risk scaring them off with cameras. There’s no footage of Stinger.
But the owner did say that he always shows up wearing a black balaclava and a black baseball cap,with just his eyes showing – sharp and full of malice, almost devoid of human emotion, cold. The night
he came to the auction, he didn’t bid on anything. He just showed up for a bit and left."
"That means he wasn’t there for the auction items," Rosemary deduced. "He was probably meeting someone, using the crowd and the lack of surveillance to his advantage. Now we can be sure that
Stinger is connected to Erik, and he might know who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes."
Since Erik had been coerced into taking his own life with poison on the orders of this shadowy puppeteer, capturing Stinger became crucial. He might be willing to avenge Erik by spilling what he knew about the mastermind.
Yet there was also the chance that Stinger was now answering to Serena, viewing the Collins family as a thorn.
"Keep tracking Stinger’s whereabouts," Rosemary instructed. "See if there’s any trail leading to or from the auction that could be linked to him."
"Will do."
No sooner had Rosemary hung up than another call came through.
"Ms. Rose, it’s me," the voice on the other end belonged to the precinct, "Protocol dictates we inform the next of kin when we take someone into custody, but... you better come down here."
It was at the precinct that Rosemary learned Yolanda’s foster mother, Yvonne, had been dead for several days. She examined the body, shared her findings with the officer in charge, and then accompanied another officer to see Yolanda.
"The girl’s tight-lipped, won’t say a word, just keeps cursing you out, making a fuss about wanting to see you."
"I’ll go in," Rosemary said, pushing open the door to the interrogation room. Upon seeing Rosemary,Yolanda lunged forward, nearly breaking free from the officer’s grasp in her frenzy to reach Rosemary.
"Yolanda, this isn’t the place to throw a tantrum!" the officer barked.